Thursday 6 January 2011

Mini Review: Past Midnight by Mara Purnhagen

Goodreads
Mara Purnhagen's site
Series: Past Midnight #1
Copy obtained: bought it
Rating: 3.5/5

"I don't believe in ghosts. Unfortunately, they believe in me...


Let me set the record straight. My name is Charlotte Silver and I'm not one of those paranormal-obsessed freaks you see on TV...no, those would be my parents, who have their own ghost-hunting reality show. And while I'm usually roped into the behind-the-scenes work, it turns out that I haven't gone unnoticed. Something happened on my parents' research trip in Charleston - and now I'm being stalked by some truly frightening other beings. Trying to fin into a new school and keeping my parents' creepy occupation a secret from my friends - and potential boyfriends - is hard enough without having angry spirits whispering in my ear. All I ever wanted was to be normal, but with the ghosts of my past and present colliding, now I just want to make it out of high school alive."

I really liked this book, more so than I first thought I would. The book kind of has two main plots, the one involving Charlotte and the ghosts haunting her, and the other involving Charlotte's new friend at school, Avery. Personally, I enjoyed the storyline with Avery more than the ghosts-attacking-Charlotte one. I don't really know why, but I certainly had more sympathy in that part of the story than when the focus was more specifically on Charlotte. I liked the writing and the ideas, it's a little spooky and it has some very funny moments as well. It also very nearly had me in tears a couple of times. There is, as you could expect with a book about ghosts, a fair bit of grief, but it also has a heavy focus on moving on, on dealing with that grief and living, which I really liked.

Charlotte is easy enough to relate to with her insecurities and desperate desire to fit in. But she also has a tendency to hide from her problems and hope they go away. She's quite passive and while that's her personality (and something she's working on, at least a little) I found it a bit frustrating at times. I prefer stronger characters who really go after things. But as it was her personality, and it's not a book heavy on angst despite the issues, I could get past it and keep going with her. And it's worth it because Past Midnight is a really good read! There are some really great moments and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next in book 2, One Hundred Candles (out in Feb).

6 comments:

-Ria xo said...

This book sounds creeply cool! The blurb draws you in straight away but I'm not so keen on the cover...
Even your mini reviews have enough detail to make me want to read it!

Claire (Cem) said...

Thanks Ria! Honestly on screen, I'm not really a fan of the cover, but in person I think it's much prettier.

Unknown said...

Thanks for a great review. I haven't heard anything about this, but that didn't stop me from buy it (mainly based on that blurd). Now it's sitting on my shelf, your review makes me want to read it more.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the review! I had not heard of this series b4 =P

Kristina Barnes♥ said...

Aw, this sounds like a really good book. You know, the MC sounds a lot like me. xD I think I could probably relate to it more than you, ahha. :) Great review!

Leanna Elle said...

I've liked the sound of this one for a while. I love anything with ghosts!